


Bittersweet Apple

by Diary



Series: Where the Apple Falls [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Aunt-Niece Relationship, Bechdel Test Pass, Canon Character of Color, Canon Disabled Character, Conversations, Friendship/Love, Gen, Late Night Conversations, Minor Allison Argent/Scott McCall, POV Kate Argent, Pack Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-04
Updated: 2016-03-04
Packaged: 2018-05-24 14:38:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6156838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Repost. “Oh, sweetheart, hasn’t anyone ever told you to never lie to a liar, pull a con on a confidence person, or corner a hunter?” Complete.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bittersweet Apple

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf.

They found his diary under his bed is probably not how most investigations get their jumpstart, but since this hunter is the only one whose stuff hasn’t been claimed by next of kin, Kate is hoping it proves to be a start.

Three hunters supposedly killed Talia and Laura Hale.

Three hunters are dead by the new Hale alpha, Peter.

Normally, Kate would call the score even and leave a fellow hunter’s property unmolested while acknowledging the justness of their death.

However, there are many convenient factors culminating in Peter’s inheritance, and she can’t make a move unless there’s irrefutable proof he made such a monstrous power play.

For all she’d personally love to see him cut in half, she respected Talia, she never met Laura but heard enough to mentally paint a good picture of her, and she has a fondness for Talia’s son and Laura’s brother, Derek. In addition, under Talia’s leadership, the Hale pack never harmed innocent humans and was surprisingly tolerant of hunters showing up uninvited on their land.

“I can pick the lock,” Derek says.

Rolling her eyes, Kate sets the diary down, aims her heel, and stomps. “My way’s faster.”

Picking up, she tosses it to him. “You can read. I hate this investigating crap.”

“Then, why are you helping?”

He immediately looks stricken, but she grins.

“Because, you might need protection, sweetheart,” she answers.       

…

At the hotel, Derek informs her, “He used ‘communist’ in lieu of ‘werewolf’.”

She tries not to laugh.

As a kid, Derek was a constant mixture of calm and tentative, but he’d hated McCarthyism with a fiery passion. According to him, The Crucible wasn’t a strong enough or condemnatory enough allegory.

“Ever seen The Majestic, Hale?”

He shakes his head.

“I think you’d like it. So, what makes you sure?”

“He didn’t have a clear understanding of how communism even worked.” 

Shrugging, she leans back on her bed. “Anything about your family?”

“Not so far,” he answers. “There’s-” He trails off.

Looking over, she prods, “What?”

When he doesn’t answer, she starts to get up. “C’mon, Hale. I’ll take it from you if I have to.”

“It mentions your family,” he answers. “It’s not very complimentary.”

“I’m a big girl. I can handle the fact some dead guy didn’t have the greatest opinion of me and mine.”

“C. Argent is an uptight prick. His wife is a shrew,” Derek starts.

“Well, family loyalty or not-” She shrugs.

 “K. Argent is a psycho slut.”

“Meaning I took down some target he couldn’t and wouldn’t rock his world in bed,” she translates.

“The Argent kid-” There’s another brief pause. “Whatever the circumstances behind his death, he received a more merciful one than you would have given him.”

Kate feels her blood boil.

She considers reading it, but she realises there’s probably a good chance of them being ejected if she does.

“Copy everything important, and then, destroy it,” she orders. “If something regarding Allison is important, edit it down as much as you can.”

“Okay,” he agrees.

…

She wakes up when she hears movement from his bed.

Turning on the lamp, she looks at her watch and yawns. “Did you stay up all night, kid?”

“I don’t need much sleep.”

Stretching, she realises aloud, “I turned on the lamp. Meaning you turned off the light at some point.”

“Werewolves can read in the dark without suffering the same consequences humans do.”

She considers continuing to press, but she’s not his teacher anymore, and this all has to do with his family. If it were her family, such considerations as sleep and proper light sources would take the backseat, too.

“Anything?”

“He mentioned my family a few times in 2000.” He turns on the light and tosses her a bottle of water from the fridge.

She does some math in her head and realises this was about three years before she took the position of swimming instructor at Beacon Hills High.

“I don’t know if it’s a cousin or one of my sisters, but he didn’t like one of them. He thinks Mom should have ‘trained’ her better.”

“That sucks, but in the scale of things, it’s also probably unimportant.”

Sitting back down on his bed, he continues, “He never uses any names, but he makes several references to how creepy the blue-eyed uncle is.”

“Can’t fault him there.”

“You think Peter’s creepy?”

“To quote my big brother, ‘I think he’s a Machiavellian sadist, and if it weren’t for the reputable reputation of his pack, I’d make a judgement call and say he deserved to be cut in half, regardless of whether there’s proof of his place within the code or not.’”

“Why does no one outside my family like Peter?”

“I’m sure there are plenty of people who do. He can be quite the charmer. For those of us outside your family who actually have some idea of who he truly is and what he’s truly capable of, liking him would be-”

She pauses. “It doesn’t matter. If he didn’t make a power play, the treaty Talia established will hold.”

“Do you- do you really think he’s capable of doing such a thing?”

“I wouldn’t be in this hotel room with you if I didn’t.”

She looks over and sees he’s curled into himself.

There’s a reason she didn’t stay a teacher long. She’ll be the first to admit sympathy and empathy have never been her strong suits.

“Do you remember I once told you that I didn’t like the term psychopath?”

He nods. “You said that, sometimes, a person just needed the right push, and even then, they could surprise themselves.”

“I’ll make sure no one ever believes you if you tell them this, but I once almost killed Chris.”

“Your brother?” The look in his eyes is merely curious, and she wonders at this.

“Yep,” she agrees. “Big brother Chris. It was back when Gerard was still alive. I love my brother. Truly. But to say we don’t get along is the understatement of two centuries. We were on a hunting trip, and I saw the perfect opportunity for him to have an accident. The only thing that stopped me,” she admits, “is I wondered what it would do to Allison. For all my issues with Chris, he’s more of a father than Gerard could have ever hoped to be.”

“So,” she finishes, “yes, I believe Peter could find some twisted justification to take out his big sister and niece. That doesn’t mean he did. Chris is still alive, after all. Nevertheless, creatures like he and I are cut from the same cloth. We’re not moral, mostly innocent creatures like you.”

He looks thoughtful but doesn’t give any response besides, “What’s the next step of our plan?”

“You won’t like this, but we go to where Talia and Laura died.”

“They were killed,” he says.

She considers answering but decides against it.

…

“Why,” she inquires, “is there a warehouse in the middle of a forest?”

“It’s an old distillery,” he answers. “It-”

“One question,” she interrupts. “When it was up and running, did it make logistical sense for it to be out in the middle of the forest?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” She looks closely and decides, though, Talia and Laura weren’t killed in it, there might be evidence of the crime inside. “Go in and check for structural instability.”

He complies.

“It’s safe,” he calls.

As she starts to come in, her instincts take over, and she’s ready when two werewolves burst through the window and one comes up behind her. She calls, “Derek, behind, left,” shoots the other in the shoulder, and then, shoots the one Derek’s fighting in the small of its back. She finds herself pinned to the wall with a gun to the head of her capturer.

She catches Derek’s eyes and shakes her head for him to stay near the wounded ones.

“A hunter and a Hale,” the alpha says. “How odd. Especially considering the parentage of this one.”

She takes in his sunglasses and the cane being used to help restrain her. “I’m going to take a metaphorical stab in the dark and guess Gerard is responsible for you being literally in the dark. It wouldn’t surprise me if actual stabbing was involved.”

Amusement radiates from him. “Yes.”

“She killed us!”

Rolling her eyes, Kate chances a glance at the beta. “You’re not dead. It’s a wolfs bane bullet. Burn the casing, apply it to the wound, and you and your friend will be good to go.”

“Why would a hunter tell us that?”

“Because, casing is usually a bitch to find, and any hunter worth their salt will keep their special bullets tightly locked up. You’re really not helping the case for werewolves not being mindless beasts, sweetheart.”

“Can- Deucalion, she’s under Hale protection,” Derek announces. “Miss- Kate, please, don’t jeopardise the treaty my family has with Deucalion’s pack.”

“He steps away, I lower the gun.”

“Very well,” Deucalion agrees.

He steps away, and she lets go of the Taser in her pocket and puts the gun away.

“Don’t you have a code, Miss Argent?”

“We hunt those who hunt us. You could have walked through the door, but your betas crashed through the windows, and you grabbed me.”

“Yet, you might have gotten the upper hand if you hadn’t wasted time aiding Derek here,” he observes.

“Right now, he’s part of ‘we’ and ‘us’,” she answers.

“Very interesting,” Deucalion remarks. He goes over to Derek. Reaching over, he puts a hand on his cheek. “We’ve never met, but know that I truly share your pain. Your mother was a wonderful woman, a powerful wolf, and a close friend.”

Derek sighs. “Thank you.”

The beta lying facedown on the floor starts twitching.

Kate goes over to get the casings. “Anyone have a lighter?”

… 

“Why have you brought a hunter onto your territory so soon after what was done to your mother and sister?”

“I’m trying to figure out why they were targeted.”

“The fact they were werewolves isn’t enough?”

“These hunters didn’t get lucky,” Kate interjects. “They put serious planning and effort to take down an alpha. Maybe Laura was collateral damage, or maybe they specifically wanted the most likely successor, too. Hunters don’t kill an alpha, and then, leave the rest of the pack alive. I doubt even your little beta would be that stupid.”

She hears a vague growl from outside and grins. “Either they were suicidal, or something powerful was motivating them to do this and take the risk of being killed.”

Deucalion looks at Derek. “You don’t want to, but you suspect Peter,” he observes. “Poor boy.”

When she sees Derek’s stricken look, she says, “Everybody outside of your family has niggling suspicions in the back of their mind. I warned you we might not be able to keep this quiet and discreet for very long. Your uncle being how he is doesn’t help.”

“I’m not going to cause friction between you and your pack,” Deucalion says. “I’ve always called Peter a friend, but I’ve always also known that my trust in him can never be absolute in anything. If he did this to Talia and your older sister, you have a duty to your pack to dispose of him. Or,” he amends, “to let Miss Argent here do it for you.”

“I plan on it,” she answers.

“And which are you? The Knight or the Queen?”

Scoffing, she answers, “I’m a human being, not a fairy-tale creature. If you’re asking who’s running this show, we both are.”

“I hope you don’t take offense, but that’s not how it works with wolves or with the humans involved with them. Quite frankly, I’m not sure it works that way with just humans, either.”

“More-or-less, she is,” Derek answers and immediately gives her a look.

She shrugs and grins.

“You’ll make a fine alpha someday,” Deucalion comments.

“I’m not in line,” Derek immediately protests. “If something happens to Peter soon, I think it’ll settle in Cora.”

“Perhaps,” Deucalion answers, and Kate gets the feeling he’s unconvinced. “Well, we’ll be off. Contact me if we can be of further help.”

“You haven’t been of any help,” Kate points out.

While Derek glares, Deucalion turns his head towards her. “Yes, you’re right. Not yet, anyway. Allow me to rectify that. Your mother would want you to know, Derek. Alan Deaton, a local veterinarian, used to be emissary to your pack. His resignation is his story to tell, and it’s not your place to know his successor unless your alpha deems it so. But you have every right to seek him out.”

Derek breathes out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“Good day to you both.”

He leaves, and she comments, “You know, Hale, being a beta doesn’t mean you’re contractually required to be a doormat.”

“I’m not a doormat,” he retorts. “I’m just smart enough to know that people who aren’t under you are usually against you, and people against you, especially werewolves, don’t tend to fare well.”

“True enough,” she acknowledges. “And for the record, if it weren’t for you being my former student, this new vibe you’re giving out would-”

A scream interrupts her, and instinctive realisation makes everything go cold inside. “Allison. Allison!”

She finds Allison propped on the ground and glaring at a skinned knee.

At least, she desperately hopes it’s a skinned knee.

“Kate-”

“Not now, sweetheart, just tell me what happened. How badly are you hurt?”

Looking around, Allison says, “I was trying to find you, and there was a woman. I know it sounds crazy, but it looks like her eyes turned red, and I fell.”

Digging out her pouch of mountain ash, Kate says, “Okay, listen to me, baby. This is going to taste terrible, and it might hurt, but you need to swallow this. Okay,” she brings a tiny amount to Allison’s mouth,” swallow, Allison.”

Allison grimaces at the taste and shudders, but there’s no flashing of eyes or blood turning black.

“She’s still human,” Derek says.

Kate finds herself proudly impressed by how Allison automatically pulls herself and Kate to face him while clenching a bow tightly in her hands.

“She wasn’t bitten,” he continues.

Realising whom it is, Allison relaxes and drops the bow. “Bitten? By mosquitos?”

“No,” Kate answers.

She wonders what she’s supposed to do. Chris and Victoria will make her life hell if she tells Allison about werewolves, but seeing as how her niece just managed to come across an unknown alpha-

Sighing, she stands and helps Allison up. “Okay, sweetheart, you’re going to need to protect me from your dad. You know how every family has its secrets? Ours are a little different. Let’s go back to the motel, get your knee taken care of, and I’ll explain.”

“Do you want me to help,” Derek inquires.

“I’m fine,” Allison says. She gingerly takes a step and picks up the rest of her archery equipment. “It’ll stop hurting in a few minutes.”

As Allison walks ahead, Kate gets the feeling a teenage Derek is walking beside her. “What’s the problem, Hale?”

“Your heart stayed steady while you were giving her the mountain ash.”

“Okay,” she answers. “And my reaction was wrong because?”

“I didn’t say it was wrong.”

“No, but you sure have some sort of problem with it. I hate passive-aggressiveness, Derek, and you know that. You want to say something, man up and say it. You’re not a little boy anymore, and I’m not your teacher.”

“I don’t think the mountain ash in the pouch would be enough to kill her.”

“Why do you think I used it to test her instead of risking using some of the wolfs bane?”

The look on his face makes everything clear, and as she tazes him, she calls, “Allison!”

Allison rushes over, “Kate! What did- Is he-”

“He deserved it,” Kate promises. Hauling Derek up and ignoring Allison’s gasp, she says, "Shapeshifter. Lycan. Werewolf. At the moment, he’s just another dumb animal.” Prying his mouth open, she continues, “See these right here? These are canines, also known as fangs. Made for the tearing and rendering of flesh. Not something you find on those cute little, leaf-eating herbivores, is it?”

“Is this some sort of joke?”

“Almost everything’s a joke to me,” Kate answers. She lets go of Derek. “But your safety isn’t. Werewolves have a human eye colour and a wolf eye colour. The ones with red can turn humans into werewolves. If that woman you saw had bit you, I would have killed her, sweetheart. I probably would have killed her pack, too. But I need you to understand, Allison, that I could never hurt you or let anyone else do it.”

“I- I-” Allison helplessly stammers.

…

“Alpha, beta, omega,” Allison says from her place on Kate’s bed. “Red eyes, usually yellow, and usually blue. Red is constant.”

“Good girl,” Kate tells her.

“So, why are you involved with werewolves, Aunt Kate?”

“This is the part your mom and dad really don’t want you to know about. We hunt the supernatural, kiddo. Our family tends to stick to werewolves.”

Allison glances over at Derek.  

“We don’t do it indiscriminately,” Kate tells her. “How do you say ‘we hunt those who hunt us’ in French?”

Looking up and tapping her fingers, Allison carefully pronounces the words.

“Good,” Kate praises. “We don’t go after the ones who aren’t a threat to humans.”

“You tazered him,” Allison protests. She she gives Derek another apologetic look.

“Yeah, but he’s not chained up in some basement with an electrical patch attached to his ribs,” she says.

She immediately realises it was probably the wrong thing to say.

Finally, Derek speaks up. “She used the lowest setting. Think of what your aunt did as hitting me hard with a book or elbowing me in the stomach.”

“Sweetie, this is the first time I’ve ever tazered him, and I’ll probably never do it again. It’s not much fun going after the ones who fit the code, even if the aim isn’t to kill them. Just trust that it was necessary.”

Allison doesn’t look convinced.

“Why were you looking for your aunt?”

The question makes Allison shift. “I had a fight with dad, and I don’t want to say I ran away from home, but uh, I ran away from home.”

Kate laughs and pulls her into a hug. “That’s my girl. What’d the jackass do this time?”

Seeming to forget about Derek, Allison tells her, “I’m almost eighteen. I don’t want to be held back another year, and Mom and Dad promised they’d let me finish this year out before moving, but…”

…

When Allison goes to get some ice, Kate says, “Despite my hatred for generalised apologies, I’m going to make an exception. Sorry about today.”

“I didn’t know what to do,” he blurts out. “Your code doesn’t apply to turned family members, and she’d just be an omega. To risk my pack’s treaty and my life for- She’s only seventeen.”

“It should apply,” she answers. “And I mean this without malice, but if you ever come across someone or something trying to kill my niece, you’d better save her or die trying. Because I will go from manageably wild to full on psychotic if anything takes her away from this earth.”

…

“What kind of Taser is this?”

“Down,” Kate orders. She finishes changing. “Later today, I’ll give you a crash course, okay?”

“Not on Derek,” Allison commands.

Rolling her eyes, Kate agrees, “Not on Derek. You’re already a crack shot with your arrows. We’ll see how you can do with Tasers and guns. For knives and other weapons, though, you’ll need a different teacher.”

“What I don’t understand is, his Uncle Peter did kill those three people. It’s not a secret. But you don’t care at all about them?”

Sighing, she sits down. “In this world, kiddo, the importance of life varies greatly. If they weren’t hunters, he’d already be dead. But when your grandfather died, your mom, dad, and I made a treaty with the Hales. They don’t hurt innocent people, and we leave them alone. How they deal with hunters not affiliated with us is more-or-less at their discretion. Talia Hale was a very peaceful woman, and she loved her children. It’s doubtful she’d take her daughter and attack them. If they killed her and Laura in cold blood, none of us are going to cry over their blood being spilt.”

“Grandpa didn’t really die of a heart attack, did he?”

“No,” she answers. “But you can hear that story some other time. Ready to go?”

…

At the vet, she orders Derek, “Wait outside.”

“Why?”

“There are people inside, and those people very likely have pets in tow. I’ve seen what happens when a werewolf enters a pet store. Add the fact most of these animals are already stressed and might be sick, and it’s just asking for trouble.”

“I’ll stay with you,” Allison offers.

“Good with me,” Kate says before he can protest.

She goes inside, and a boy with puppy dog eyes smiles at her. He’s about Allison’s age, and she’s tempted to go back outside and bring her niece in. “Hi.” He expertly redirects a giant lizard making its way over to her. “Do you have your animal with you?”

“No,” she answers. “It’s probably nothing, but I’d rather talk to the vet about my concerns than try my hand at Google.”

“That’s no problem,” he tells her. Handing her a sign-in sheet, he continues, “Dr Deaton’s happy to give consultations, but it might be a while. If you’d like to leave your contact information, you can go on with your day, and he’ll call, email, or text when he has some free time.”

“That sounds good to me.” She starts writing. “Listen, I have my teenage niece with me, and I’m sure she doesn’t want to spend all day doing boring errands with me. Any suggestions on what might appeal to her in this town?”

 “What’s she interested in? The parks here are very safe, but with everyone in school- She could try the library. It has a game room. Or the movie theatre is playing-”

“She’s more into sports and archery. Why aren’t you in school?”

“Oh, I’m in the work program,” he assures her. “I work two hours in the morning, and when it’s busy here, I also work during my lunch hour. I could give you directions to the roller rink. She could practise archery in the woods, but I’m not sure how safe it is. We have coyotes around here.”

“We’ll figure something out.” She hands him the sign-in sheet. When he turns around, she tosses her wallet onto a nearby chair. “Thanks for your help.”

When she goes outside, she finds Allison and Derek talking.

“Legally, they can’t prove her husband didn’t visit her,” Derek says. “Without proof of death or a paternity test, he should have automatically been considered Pearl’s father.”

Before Allison can answer, she interrupts, “Wonderful, I leave you two alone for five minutes, and instead of using the time wisely, you both turn into literary critics. Or at least, I’m assuming the topic is a book rather than some juicy real-world gossip.”

“When did you become such an embarrassing aunt,” Allison demands.

Shaking her head, she answers, “Oh, trust me, sweetie, I’ve always been the most embarrassing member of our family. It just took you some time to realise it. Anyway, Deaton was busy, and I left my wallet inside. Will you go get it, sweetheart?”

“Sure,” Allison agrees.

Derek suspiciously looks over.

Once Allison is out of earshot, she shrugs. “I know my heart didn’t change.”

“No,” he agrees. “But you didn’t even check your pocket.”

“She’s definitely interested in boys, but she refuses to make the first move. I want her to get some dating experience before she goes off to college.”

…

Five minutes later, Allison hasn’t reappeared.

“They’re talking about music.”

Getting her phone out, she starts to send a text, but he suggests, “Your plan would work better if you went in.”

“Good point,” she says.

…

Inside, Allison and the puppy-eyed boy are nowhere to be seen.

Before she can panic, however, they both reappear. He’s carrying several bowls, and Allison has a large bag of dog food in her hands.

“Kate-” Allison starts.

“No time, kiddo. Something’s come up, and Derek and I need to hit the road.” Reaching over, she slips some condoms in Allison’s pocket as she withdraws her wallet. “I’m leaving you some money, my motel card, and one of my credit cards. If there’s an emergency, call me. And if you mom or dad calls, just route them back to me.”

“I can come-”

“No,” she says.

“Be careful,” Allison says.

Reaching over, she kisses her on the forehead. “Sweetheart, this is nothing compared to some of the jobs I’ve been on. Have fun. And if you’re going to help this boy out, make sure you get paid.”

She’s out the door before either of them can stop stuttering.

Derek looks painfully amused.

“I’m not sitting around the motel,” she tells him. “What can I do in this town that won’t put me in their radius?”

“You think he’s going to skip school to spend more time with a girl he met ten minutes ago?”

“As far as Allison knows, she has a few hours before Chris and Victoria appear. I’m hoping she’ll say screw it and be the bad influence I know she can be.”

“I have an idea,” Derek says.

…

He takes her to a pond, and after they take a break from swimming, she says, “I haven’t asked what you’ve doing until recently.”

“Community college,” he answers. “I don’t really know what I want to study. Laura worked part-time at the skating rink.”

She stays quiet.

“Do you still miss your father every day?”

“Yes,” she answers. “I probably always will. But it gets to a point where you almost don’t know it. There are some days I don’t even think of him. There’s just this small part of me that knows something’s not right. Whether I think of him or not, he should be alive, but he isn’t.”

Sighing, she props herself on her elbows. “And I’m probably the last person you want to go to for grief counselling, kiddo. When I found out what happened, I was going to kill your mom and the rest of your family. I was going cut her in half, burn your house down, and who knows what else. Chris pulled a gun on me and refused to let me see Allison for almost a year. Honestly, I’m not sure how I managed to come back from that sort of hate. But that’s my default reaction to most things. Hate.”

“You’re lucky,” she finishes. “Yours isn’t.”

“It feels like betrayal,” he softly confides.

“What does?”

“I feel like I should be angrier.”

“Why? Because you want to waste pointless energy on hating dead men? Would being angrier help you condemn your uncle to death if he is guilty? Obviously, I’m the last one who has any right condemning someone who is angry, but it won’t help you. If the anger doesn’t kill you or burn out, you’ll die without ever becoming someone they could be proud of. And trust me, Hale, the day you can let a hunter kill a member of your family, your pack, without a heaping help of regret and sadness, that’s the day I get worried you’re just as bad as Peter, if not worse.”

“I’m not going to turn into him, ever.”

“Good,” she answers. “Because, if that boy at the vet doesn’t work out, I’m going to see if Allison can practise her corruption on you.”

He looks at her. “Since I’m older and-”

“Nope,” she interrupts. “You’re still a boy scout, and my niece could you eat for breakfast.”

He has the good sense not to argue.

…

“Miss Argent. Derek,” Deaton greets. To Kate, he says, “I’m surprised to find you working with him.”

“Talia didn’t tell you about me?”

“She told me that Derek was very fond of you,” he answers.

“Is there a possibility Peter formed an alliance with the hunters and had my mother and Laura killed,” Derek blurts out.

Deaton studies him.

“You’re trying to decide if he can handle what you know,” she speaks up. “You’re trying to decide where your residual loyalty to Talia lies: her kid or the one who inherited her power. Three hunters are dead, Doc, and just like you, I know plenty of stories about Peter that Derek doesn’t. I might even know some Talia didn’t. If he killed humans to hide what he did from his family, he’s a threat to this town.”

“And what,” he asks Derek, “are you going to do if he is?”

“I’m going to make sure no one stops her from killing him,” Derek answers.

“Why her?”

“Because this isn’t a power play on my part. I want the alpha status to reside in the best person, and I want to keep this town safe.”

“And I’m happy to do the dirty work,” she pipes up and ignores the look on Derek’s face.

“Yes, I’m sure you are,” Deaton comments. “I find the death surrounding your mother and sister’s death suspicious, but I don’t know enough to say for sure it is.” Sighing, he continues, “On the day of their deaths, there was an omega in town. Talia and Laura were going to talk to her. As far as I know, the hunters attacked before they could. She left immediately after it happened.”

“Did you tell Peter about this,” Derek inquires.

“I did. He said he’d deal with her if she ever came back, but for now, he was too busy dealing with his family,” Deaton answers. “Derek, could I speak to your privately?”

…

“He cautioned me against trusting you.”

“Don’t say it with that tone,” she orders. “There might come a day we meet on opposite sides of the battlefield, kid. Now, where are we going?”

Her phone rings before he can answer.

“Hey, sweetheart,” she greets. “You doing okay?”

“I’ve had the best day, Kate,” Allison bubbles. “Is it okay if I have dinner with Scott and his mom? Or you and Derek could have it with us?”

“Okay, wait. Scott. He’s the boy from the vet?”

“Scott McCall, yes,” Allison answers. “I audited his classes, and then, we went to-”

“Audited? I thought he was a high school student.”

“He is,” Allison answers. “But I explained to his teachers that I was on a sort of vacation with my aunt, and they let me sit in his classes.”

Because she loves her niece, she manages to refrain from mocking her.

“Right, okay. But you did have some quality time out of school and the vet, right?”

Allison giggles. “Totally. It was the best day, ever,” she repeats.

“Good,” she says. “Actually, this works out for me. Derek and I have to go track down an omega. So, have dinner with your new boy- and his mom. If they offer to let you sleep over, that’s fine, but if not, the motel room is paid for. Don’t leave town unless your parents track you down.”

“Thank you!”

“I love you, sweetie.”

“I love you, too, Kate.”

…

When they get to the hotel, they stay in the car, and Derek says, “You need to stay in town. If the omega is around, I’ll bring her back.”

“Are you serious,” Kate demands. “Sweetie, I’m not just your ride, and just because you saved my life once-”

“It’s doubtful, but there’s a small chance she could be an alpha. I’m not going to carry your dead body back to your seventeen-year-old niece and try to explain-”

“First of all, I’ve killed an alpha before. Second, if I were bitten, I wouldn’t kill myself right away. I’d try my best to settle things with my family, first.”

“That’s not very comforting.”

“Do you think I give a damn about comforting you?”

“No,” he answers, “but I know you care about protecting her. If this omega takes in your scent and gets away- she might latch onto Allison’s.”

“I don’t know whether to be impressed or irritated by your newfound willingness to play dirty.”

“I’m not playing dirty.”

“Oh, sweetheart, hasn’t anyone ever told you to never lie to a liar, pull a con on a confidence person, or corner a hunter?”

“Why do I get the feeling you’ve done all three?”

“Because you know me,” she answers. “What people don’t realise is that the warning should be directed against those who do all three and manage to survive. Go get that omega, but let me be clear: If you die, I won’t be dragging your ass back to your family. I’ll pack up Allison, send hunters down to figure out this mess, and be done with it.”

“I understand.” He opens the car door.

…

Two hours later, dirt-smeared and with his clothes slightly torn, Derek opens the hotel door and nods to the girl he has a tight grip on. “This is Maddie.”

The omega is a tangled mess of girl, and Kate sighs. “What kind of pizza do you like, Maddie?”

“Not hungry.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re getting your three square meals every day,” she replies. “Done right, pizza hits every mark on the food pyramid. Whether you eat or not, I’m having some. I’m just giving you the opportunity to share.”

“I like veggie lovers,” Maddie mutters.

“We’ll do half that and half meat lovers, no pepperoni,” she says.        

…

Once Maddie has showered, devoured half of the pizza, and drank three glasses of strawberry milk, she says to Derek, “Three of you came. Then, three of her came. The alpha ordered the others to leave. One to take me, and one to go home. The one to take me, he heard the roar, and he got to the new alpha. She lied. She said she was going to get me. Told him to not to argue, get home, and send others. But she went to hers, and she fought and died.”

“Did you help kill the hunters,” Derek asks.

“It doesn’t matter,” Kate says. “If she’s telling the truth, you’ve got your answer, Hale. Whatever your uncle deserves to be cut in half for, making a power play isn’t it.”

…

In the morning, Allison asks, “Where’s Derek?”

“Everything’s sorted out,” Kate answers. “You spent the night at Scott’s house?”

Allison looks down. “Nothing- we really just talked.” She tosses the condoms over.

“Did you exchange numbers and whatever else you kids exchange nowadays?”

Allison nods and grins. “Want to hear about what we did yesterday?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

…

Her phone rings.

“Hey, Derek,” she answers.

“Peter wants to meet with you.”

“Alright,” she agrees. “I’ll come over in an hour or two.”

Hanging up, she says, “Okay, kid. I’m all for you rebelling, but seriously, your parents are going to ground you for a year and kill me if you aren’t home by sundown. As a consolation, you get to drive my car.”

“Really?” Then, the brightness dims. “You’re not coming with me?”

“Nah, I’m going to take a bus, head down to Louisiana. I’ll send for the car.”

“You’re not going to protect me from them?”

“First off, you don’t need any protection, baby girl. You’ve proved that. Second, let’s face it, I’d just make things worse.”

Laughing, Allison nods.

…

She stops near the abandoned distillery and takes in the way Derek refuses to meet her eyes.

“Miss Argent,” Peter greets.

“I preferred you with blue eyes,” she says. “But then, I prefer all werewolves with either blue or yellow. None of this ambiguous red crap.”

Derek sighs, and the yellow-eyed werewolf next to him growls. She’s about Allison age, and by the looks of her, even more of a tomboy. Cora, Kate guesses.

“What do you want, Hale?”

“I want Derek to prove his loyalty by killing you.”

“Fine with me,” Kate answers.

She puts a bullet through his head.

A roar fills the air, and she turns to see a shocked Derek holding back the girl. He has red eyes, and she doubts he even knows it.

“Stand down, little girl,” she orders. “If Derek wants to kill me,” she tosses aside her gun, Taser, and knives, “fair’s fair. I killed your uncle because no alpha who orders the death of humans as a test of loyalty is going to be allowed to live. If he ever does it, my family will come for him.”

“If I-” Derek brings his hands up to his eyes. Manoeuvring himself so he’s standing in front of Cora with his back to Kate, he asks, “Cora?”

She brings her brother’s hand up and sets it on the back of her neck.

“No,” he whispers.

“I realise I’m pushing things, but I have a schedule,” she interrupts.

Turning his head, he orders, “Go.”

“Derek-”

“Let her go,” he orders. “We need to take Peter home.”

…

On the bus, Kate looks down at the picture she once took of a green-eyed, teenaged boy and sighs.


End file.
